Henderson Smaller Compan... Share Discussion Threads

[sharesoc] 18/11/2024 10:08

Missed the recent (12/11/24) ShareSoc webinar on The Henderson Smaller Companies Investment Trust plc (HSL)? You can now watch the full recording on YouTube! In this session, Neil Harmon, Portfolio Manager, provided a comprehensive overview of the Trust, covering key aspects of its current performance and future strategy. Don’t miss this opportunity to catch up on HSL’s latest developments.

Watch it here: hxxps://youtu.be/5EXELmTwwDM

[sharesoc] 02/10/2024 14:24

Neil Harmon, a Portfolio Manager at The Henderson Smaller Companies Investment Trust plc (HSL), will present a full overview of the Trust and will give an update on current performance and future plans on the ShareSoc webinar taking place on the 24th October 2024 on Zoom
The presentation will last for 30min, followed by 30min Q&A session, where you can ask direct questions.

[18bt] 03/5/2024 15:18

Hurray! Finally:

Henderson Smaller relents and buys back shares at 15% discount
The board of the £600m Henderson Smaller Companies trust drops its reluctance to buy shares, making its first stock repurchases in 13 years.
Jamie Colvin

Henderson Smaller Companies (HSL) has started buying back shares for the first time in 13 years after deciding that tackling the deep discount warranted the risk of shrinking the £600m investment trust.

Stock exchange filings show that when its shares fell to 15% below net asset value (NAV) in late March, the board stepped in for the first time since 2011, spending £746,523 on repurchasing its shares in 10 transactions.

In a statement, the board (chaired by Penny Freer) said its goal was enhancing the trust’s NAV by buying the shares cheaply.

‘This reflects our view that the current combination of the deep value of the underlying portfolio alongside the discount to its net asset value at which HSL’s share price trades presents an attractive opportunity for shareholder value enhancement,’ the statement said.

‘The buyback is within the authority granted at the last AGM which allows for a maximum of 14.99% of the share capital to be acquired.’

The trust had become an outlier in resisting buybacks, which surged to a record £4bn in the investment companies sector last year, as boards responded to the derating of their shares caused by high inflation and interest rates.

In the trust’s half-year report in January, Freer said an increase in investor confidence in the UK and strong investment performance would be key factors in narrowing the £593m trust’s discount.

Fund manager Neil Hermon was also sceptical, telling Citywire last October that when Henderson Global Investors (as it was then known) took on the trust in the early 2000s, it had bought back 4% of the equity from November 2002 to 2011.

‘It had little to no impact,’ Hermon said, adding that the effect of buybacks typically wore off in a month and he was concerned that sustained buybacks risked shrinking a trust to ‘irrelevance’.

Henderson Smaller is not the only trust to have had a change of heart on buybacks. As Citywire reported yesterday, Schroder Income Growth (SCF) last month bought back some shares for the first time in 16 years, although it has undertaken only one purchase so far.

The board said the transaction demonstrated its confidence in the portfolio and confirmed it would continue to buy back shares to enhance asset value per share.

It is possible that Henderson Smaller is responding to shareholder pressure. According to Refinitiv data, after wealth manager Evelyn Partners on 8%, its largest backers are value investors Lazard and Allspring Global Investments, which hold 4.4% and 4.1%, and would be keen on any measures to narrow the discount.

Since Henderson Smaller first bought back stock on 27 March, shares in the £694m portfolio have risen almost 4%, with the discount narrowing slightly to 14%.

In the past three years, the trust has been one of the worst performers in its sector with NAV falling 23% and shareholders suffering a total loss of 30% as a result of the share price discount. Over the same period, the Deutsche Numis Smaller Companies ex-investment companies index has declined 4%.

In the March factsheet, Hermon said that the UK smaller company market had quietened down, with flotations tailing off since the first quarter, while weak economic activity has led to subdued corporate earnings growth in 2023 compounded by rising interest costs and a higher corporate tax burden.

However, he pointed to the portfolio’s robust balance sheets, meaning its companies would be well-positioned to withstand an economic downturn. Its top holdings are Paragon Banking Group (PAG), housebuilder Bellway (BWY) and construction and infrastructure group Balfour Beatty (BBY), all of which are Citywire Elite stocks held by leading fund managers.

[holmol] 21/3/2024 20:18

Oxman,my experience of this trust is as follows-bought 13/8/16 at 608p .Topped up at
896p Sold 14/3/24 at 778 So by my calculations , a gain on original purchase of 28%
Over7.5 years ,a gain of 3,7%per year Should have sold out years ago .

[its the oxman] 19/3/2024 10:56

Added a few today 757p. Seems under the cosh like the UK in general. Got some blind belief it will motor higher one day.

[sharesoc] 19/12/2023 16:23

In case you missed our webinar with The Henderson Smaller Companies Investment Trust plc (HSL), the recording can be found on our YouTube channel:

[topvest] 29/9/2022 18:19

I'm about 50% total cash or 35% cash in my main shares portfolio, so not sure we disagree QuePassa. Agreed on the capitulation point. US is key and that hasn't capitulated yet. Think we are getting close and October could be ugly. It's normally the month for crashes. Irrespective of that, I have a nibble now and again in things I want to hold long term, but not in any size.

[quepassa] 29/9/2022 17:15

Good long-term call but we don't always agree fully on timing.

Market capitulation hasn't yet happened.

But it will soon.

Pretty much out of UK stocks awaiting a further 20% jolt downwards.

Market melt-down coming soon. That's when I'll be buying.....

[topvest] 29/9/2022 15:09

I've doubled up on a small position today as this is down c50% now. It may not be the bottom, but on a 10 year view it should be OK. A good investment trust with a solid record.

[ec2] 19/7/2022 14:38

Just taken a little risk off here into strength.

[arja] 12/5/2022 13:24

chart suggests about another £1 downside . Unusual times with falling bond yields and equities down too. I am trying to find a trust trading closer to NAV as more potential downside and better for shorting

[my retirement fund] 09/5/2022 15:09

Actually make it 684

[chc15] 04/5/2022 10:11

U were right, been whacked, doing my usual averaging down..

[davebowler] 03/5/2022 09:05

28 April 2022, the
unaudited net asset value per share calculated
in accordance with the AIC formula (including
current financial year revenue items) was 1082.4p.

[my retirement fund] 11/4/2022 13:06

You not fancy ASCI with a >20% discount to nav? surely safer

[my retirement fund] 11/4/2022 12:38

I'll wait for 884 personally :)

[chc15] 11/4/2022 11:33

U mean 984, I have also started a new holding around this level..

[its the oxman] 04/4/2022 11:55

Added a few 994p

[arja] 23/2/2022 20:32

big discount to NAV but chart still shows a clear downtrend and more downside to come . Could do quite well when markets turn bullish again as double whammy with discount narrowing .

[tomps2] 21/1/2022 10:42

HSL mentioned in latest PIWORLD/Stockopedia StockSlam

Damian Cannon ‘slams’ Henderson Smaller Companies Investment Trust (HSL) in the latest PIWORLD/Stockopedia StockSlam at 3m

Watch the video here:

Or listen to the podcast here:

[its the oxman] 07/4/2021 15:57

Nice close above 1200p today. Still plenty to come if recovery continues as this years them. Their portfolio seems geared to this but from a quality perspective and performing strongly.